Collar-stiffener for negligée shirts.



No. 869,259.. PATENTED OCT. 29-l 1907.

` W. S. PEACOCK.

COLLAR STIFFENER POR NEGLIGE/E SHIRTS.

- BIYLIqAifIoN FILED MAY 1. 1906.

front portion of the shirt.

WALTER S. PEAGOGK, OF SELMA,CALIFORN1A.

COLLAR-STIFFENERV FOR NEGLIGE SHIRTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 1907.

Application filed May l, 1906. Serial No. 314,622. f

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, WALTER S. PEACOCK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Selma, in the county of Fresno and State of California, haveinvented a new and useful Collar-Stiiiener for Neglige'Shirts, of whichthe following is a specification.

The invention relates to a collar stiffener for neglige and other shirtshaving soft collars.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofdevices for stiffening the soft collars of neglige and other shirts, andto provide a shirt of this character having a stiffener adaptedtopreserve the shape of a soft collar, and prevent the saine from laying(iat or rolling down, and'thereby permitting the collar of a coat fromcoming in contact with the neck of the wearer and either soiling thecoat collar or annoying the wearer.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shirt of thischaracter having a soft collar, which will be cooler and morecomfortable than a stiff or laundered collar, and which will enable thevarious kinds of neckties to [it as nicely on it as they fit a stiff orlaundered collar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shirt having a flexibleand elastic collar stiffener adapted to yield to avoid annoyingrorhurting the wearer, and capable of being readily d etached to enablethe shirt to be easily laundered.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claimshereto appended; it being understood that various changes in the form,proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope ofthe claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the inventionl ln the drawingFigure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a shirt provided with acollar stiifener constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2is an elevation of the same, the soft collar being turned up toillustrate the larrangement of the horizontal pockets and the tab. Fig.3 is a detail view of the collar stiffener. Fig. 4 is a detailhorizontal sectional view of the Fig. 5 is a similar view of the rearportion of the shirt.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout theseveral figures of the drawing.

1 designates a neglige shirt, having an attached soft turned down collar2, consisting of an inner portion or band-and an outer or turned overportion, and the said shirt is provided at opposite sides of the frontportion of the collar with interiorly arranged horizontally disposedpockets 3 and 1i, which are open at their inner or rear ends and whichare closed at their outer or front ends. The pockets 3 and 4, which areconstructed of the same material as the shirt and the collar, receivethe ends of a stiffener 5, which is concealed within the collar betweenthe inner and outer portions thereof and which extends around the neck,its ends 6 terminating at opposite sides of the front of the collar, asclearly illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The ends 6of the stiffener are preferably tapered towards the center thereof, asclearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, and as the stiffener isconstructed of flexible, or elastic material, as hereinafter fullyexplained, the ends 6 are adapted to be bowed longitudinally whenintroducing them into the pockets, and when the ends are released theirside edges will flexibly engage the pockets at the top and bottomthereof, whereby the ends of the stifiener will be retained securely inthe pockets.

The stiffener, which is fiexible and elastic,.consists of an inner thinstrip 7 of Celluloid or other elastic ma terial, and a covering 8 ofsilk, or any other suitable fabric. The covering may be omitted, ifdesired. The elasticity of the stiffener is increased by means oflongitudinal side openings 9 of the strip '7 the side openings beinglocated at opposite sides of the collar, and enabling the same to yieldto any pressure of the neck, whereby the collar is rendered morecomfortable than a stiff or laundered collar. Also this particularconstruction effectually prevents the stiffener from irritating the neckor otherwise annoying or hurting the wearer. The slots 9, which extendalong the tapered portions of the strip, terminate short of the centralor back portion, which is provided with a button hole 10 to receive theback collar button 11 of the shirt. The

back collar button assists .in retaining the stiffener in position, andthere is no tendency of the stiffener to become displaced, when securedby the back collar button l1 with the ends 6 properly fitted in thefront pockets of the collar.

The shirt, which is open at the front, is provided with the usual buttonholes 12 to receive a front collarfbutton 13.' The shirt is alsopreferably provided at the front with a tab 14, which extends across thespace between the iiaps, or outer portions of the collar, to present thesmooth appearance of an ordinary lock collar. The tab is provided with abutton hole 15, and is secured to the pocket 3 by means of a button 16.The shirt is preferably provided at the back of the collar with aflexible guard strip 16, extending across the collar button 11 andsecured to the shirt at opposite sides of the same, as clearly shown inFig. 5 of the drawing. This prevents the back collarA button coming incontact with the neck of the wearer.

The collar stiffener enables a soft collar of any desired height to beworn, and it preserves the shape of the`coll'ar and prevents the coatcollar coming in contact with the neck of the wearer. This avoidssoiling the neck of the coat collar, and at the same time prevents thesame from annoying the wearer. The improved collar is adapted to receivethe various styles of neckties and When the stitiener is detached thecollar may be laundered as easily as an ordinary soit collar.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent. s:-

l. The combination of a shirt having a soft attached turned down collarprovided at the inner portion or band with opposite pockets concealed bythe outer or turned down portion of the collar and terminating in aclosed end at each side of the front of the collar, a connecting tabextending across the overlapped ends of the collar band and mounted onone pocket and detachably secured to the other pocket, said tab andoverlappingends of the collar. band being provided with registeringbutton holes, and a stiiener concealed by the turned down portion of thecollar and having its ends fitted in the said pockets.

2. The combination of a shirt having a soft attached turned-down collarprovidedat the inner portion or neckband with opposite pockets concealedby the outer or turned-down portion of the collar, and terminating in aclosed end at each side of the front of the collar, and a stiitenerconsisting of a strip of sheet material extending around the innerportion or neck-band of the collar and having inwardly tapered endsIitting; in and frictionally engaging the pockets, said strip beingprovided with longitudinal openings extending along the tapered portionsof the strip and forming;` compressible upper and lower portions adaptedto yield to the pressure of the neck and capable of being compressed toenable the ends of the stitener to be readily introduced into thepockets.

3. A stiftener for flexible collars consisting of a thin strip of sheetmaterial adapted to be bent around the neck to stiilen and support theinner portion or neck-band of a flexible collar, said strip being'provided with inwardly tapered end portions and having longitudinal sideopenings extending along the tapered portions of the strip andterminatingjy short of the central or back portion, which is providedwith a button hole, and a fabric covering for the elestic strip closingthe said openings.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto atixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WALTER S. PEACOCK.

Witnesses L .T. H, BAXTER, A. A. RoWi-LLL.

